BPD is actually awesome. Never met a bad Boston cop, and I've met so many Boston officers.
I partially agree with you, I'll use skating as an example.
Skating in Boston/Providence = Sometimes cops come and watch us skate, usually very cool about it. Sometimes ask us nicely to leave, but usually leave us be.
Skating in Foxboro, Mansfield, Sharon etc. (all are small towns south of Boston in MA if you're not familiar with the area) = Get my information taken down and get yelled at before I even get a chance to leave politely. This has happened so many times. Sometimes they ask you to leave, and I always do without arguing, but a lot of times they just start berating you right off the bat, and then take down your names without any warning. I completely understand private property and crowded areas, but Ive been kicked out of ridiculous places like non-busy public backroads, huge empty parking lots, etc. I always tell them my name is Chris Cole lol.
There are good small town cops as well, though. My 6th grade D.A.R.E. officer from Norfolk was one of the coolest guys ever, and he was a real cop too, not just some guy they hired to do the D.A.R.E. program.
But overall, I'd agree with you. Cops never give me shit unnecessarily in places like Boston, Providence, Worcester, etc. all places that I'm in frequently. It's because they have more important things to do as policemen, and this generally makes them nicer cops, imo. It's all relative though, there are definitely plenty of dick city cops and cool small town cops.